Every morning, the We Love Baseball crew reviews the Nastiest Pitches from the previous day’s games in glorious high-definition GIFs. We want to bring you the highest caliber of nastiness possible, so if you see a nasty pitch, please tell us about it. You can tweet @PitcherList to let us know and we’ll give you a shout-out here in the article if your tip makes the cut.
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Zac Gallen’s Curveball
https://gfycat.com/clutteredgivingeasternglasslizard
An afternoon to remember for Gallen gals as the right-hander stacked up a dozen K’s for a career-high. The curveball baffled the Giants all afternoon and returned 10 whiffs on 15 swings. This one came against Thairo Estrada for his second strikeout.
Jacob deGrom’s Fastball
https://gfycat.com/mixedfancybooby
The ace was back in action last night and overpowered Ronald Acuña Jr.on this triple-digit heater in his second at-bat. But, the right-hander fell on the short side of a 3-2 pitchers duel with Fried; The damage came in the fifth on RBI hits from Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley. Through his first four starts, deGrom has a 44.4% K-BB%. Side note, deGrom’s similar pitchers based on velocity and movement listed on baseball savant are interesting, to say the least: Zack Wheeler, Eddie Butler, Shelby Miller, Andrew Cashner, and Michael Fulmer. OK, maybe Wheeler, but the others?
Devin Williams‘ Changeup
https://gfycat.com/untriedconstantaxolotl
So much for the reset day. Though in fairness to Cody Bellinger, this is just cruel. Checking in on the Airbender; a 47.5% whiff rate and .236 wOBA allowed. Yep, that sounds about right.
Andrew Heaney’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/spottedclumsyhorsemouse
A pair of longballs from Andrew McCutchen put a damper on his overall line, but otherwise, Heaney pitched well yesterday and went toe-to-toe against Corbin Burnes. The lefty’s slider was excellent and returned 11 whiffs on 22 swings including this one to Christian Yelich leading off the fifth.
Max Fried’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/wholefirmkillerwhale
Last night featured an exciting divisional showdown between two aces and it was Fried who came out on top in a narrow 3-2 win. Atlanta’s southpaw had everything working last night as his curveball, change, and slider all returned a CSW% of over 40%. How about this slowball to Pete Alonso in his second at-bat? Good luck hitting that.
Jordan Romano’s Slider
https://gfycat.com/disfiguredfrigidblackfly
After six and two-thirds of one-run ball from José Berríos, the Jays’ closer put a bow on a 9-2 bludgeoning of the bombers by uncorking this textbook slider to whiff D.J. LeMahieu for the final out. The Yankees are now 9-18 in the second half.
Yu Darvish’s Cutter
https://gfycat.com/downrightfirsthandcony
Well, Darvish certainly deserved a better fate last night; He pitched into the ninth and was saddled with the hard-luck loss after Josh Hader came in, plunked Luke Voit, and walked Nelson Cruz to push the winning run across. Darvish greeted Cruz in his first at-bat with this filthy cutter the next one led to the first of his six punchouts.
Matt Moore’s Changeup
https://gfycat.com/unrealisticoptimaldragonfly
I have to admit I was a little interested in Moore early last season when he was in the mix for the Phillies rotation following his return from a one-year stint in Japan. That was a disaster. But fast forward a year and the man has really found his groove in the Texas bullpen; A 1.96 ERA in 55 IP. You’d figure that a veteran lefty reliever in the middle of a good season and on a one-year contract might’ve made him a reasonable trade target, but instead, he’ll finish out the year in Texas. The 33-year-old fired a scoreless inning last night and his changeup continues to be a force this year with a 47.5% whiff rate.
Featured image by Justin Paradis (@JustParaDesigns of Twitter)